members of congress news from FierceHealthIT
NewsHHS quietly withdraws HIPAA breach-notification rule
Following a firestorm of criticism from privacy advocates who say federal officials gave too much leeway to healthcare organizations that inadvertently disclose protected health information, HHS has Read more...
House members ask CMS to broaden 'meaningful use'
More than half the members of the House of Representatives have formally asked CMS to modify proposed rules on meaningful use of health IT so more hospitals are eligible for health IT stimulus Read more...
CBO says EMRs won't save as much as hoped
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests that without large changes in the healthcare delivery system, EMRs can't cut healthcare costs substantially. This will come as a bit Read more...
DOD, VA still struggling to share EMR data
So you think you're facing interoperability headaches? Try this project on for size. According to reps from the U.S. Department of Defense and the VA, the two have been struggling to share complete Read more...
VA could spend $20M on data breach responseIt looks like a recent data breach suffered by the Department of Veterans Affairs could be very pricey. Officials continue to deal with the recent loss of a hard drive, which disappeared from a VA medical center in Birmingham, AL in January of this year. The disk contained confidential data on any U.S. doctor billed Medicaid or Medicare through 2004, as well as more than 500,000 VA patients. To … Read more...VA faces more security criticismsVA officials faced some severe criticism from members of Congress last week after admitting that the agency's IT security still leaves much to be desired. Under fire last week at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs oversight committee, the officials confessed that they're basically not in control of the situation. Not only has the VA's data security been breached repeatedly, officials don't know how a recent breach in Birmingham, AL took place and still haven't informed all of the … Read more...2007 a tough year for health IT legislation?Many healthcare policy wonks are speculating that 2007 will be a big year for health IT legislation. Observers say that while some health IT measures got stuck on the Hill in 2006, in the coming year legislators are likely to see health IT as a priority. With the private sector signaling that it's more than ready for health IT change--supporting data-driven initiatives such as PHRs, EMRs and pay-for-performance schemes--legislators have gotten the message that the market is ready to … Read more... |
